The U.S. Army's Objective Force requires an uninterrupted flow of supplies and equipment to support military operations. High priority materiel may be flown into an operational theater, however, the majority will be delivered by sealift. Studies indicate that a limited number of deep-draft ports coupled with the possibility for disruption of operations at these ports limit the suitability of strategic sealift in many areas. When major ports are not available, Joint Logistics Over The Shore (JLOTS) operations have been the primary alternative. However, the effectiveness of JLOTS operations is highly dependent on a number of critical factors, including weather and sea conditions in the theater of operations, conditions of a bare beach (surface condition, gradient, and tides), and the ability to position large mobile equipment, such as cranes, bulldozers and forklifts, ashore to support offloading operations and beach improvements. The ongoing transformation of the Army into a strategically responsive force requires technological solutions to the challenges inherent in disruptive scenarios. Thus, the U.S. Army and U.S. Navy are jointly supporting the evaluation, development, and acquisition of a new class of high-speed, shallow-draft vessels, termed the Joint High Speed Vessel (JHSV), as one means of addressing these challenges.
Smaller ports are about five times more abundant than those capable of supporting strategic sealift. The JHSV is able to access these smaller ports and deliver combat-configured units faster than both the Navy's strategic sealift and vessels involved in the Army's conventional JLOTS. Further, as few as one or two JHSVs provide vehicular throughput comparable to a conventional JLOTS operation, including one-way JHSV trips of up to 400 nautical miles. This is a significant improvement, especially when one considers the reduction in assets and personnel by employing JHSVs as compared to existing alternatives.
Existing transportable causeway systems, including the Army's Modular Causeway System (MCS), currently used by the U.S. Army in Joint Logistics Over The Shore (JLOTS) activities, the Navy's Lighterage System (NLS), and the Improved NLS (INLS) are capable of supporting the passage of a 72-ton M1A2 tank, albeit not without some considerable logistics expense. However, no existing transportable causeway or bridge system, such as the Improved Ribbon Bridge (IRB), currently used in most expedient river crossings, or the MCS, is capable of being deployed from JHSVs. Design criteria for an embodiment of the present invention, the Lightweight Modular Causeway System LMCS™), as compared to existing transportable causeways include: lighter weight, less stored volume, International Standards Organization (ISO) compatibility regarding Material Handling Equipment (MHE) specifications, rapid deployment from Joint High Speed Vessels (JHSVs), and capability to support and carry up to 80 tons, e.g., a loaded M1A2 tank.
Some advantages of the LMCS™ include significantly reduced weight, a smaller required storage volume and an efficient deployment scheme. For example, no “in-water” connections are required, reducing both the risk to personnel and the time for deployment.